A mountaineer said his final goodbyes to two of his best friends who died in the French Alps before he prepared to return to the UK.

James Hooper, 21, will travel home following an adventure holiday which ended in the deaths of Rob Gauntlett and James Atkinson.

James Hooper has said his final goodbyes to James Atkinson and Rob Gauntlett

The pair, both aged 21 and from West Sussex, plunged to their deaths while climbing at the weekend in the Chamonix region on a route on the east face of Mont Blanc.

Tributes have poured in for Durham University student Mr Atkinson and Mr Gauntlett, who became the youngest Briton to conquer Everest in 2006 with Mr Hooper.

Footballer David Beckham, who filmed a television advert with Mr Gauntlett, was said to have been sad to have heard news of the tragedy.

Speaking from Chamonix, Mr Hooper, from Wellington, Somerset, said: “We’ve just picked up their possessions and have said our goodbyes to the boys.” He said Mr Gauntlett’s parents, David and Nicola, were flying back to the UK and that both bodies are due back at the end of this week or the start of next week.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The three adventurers were on holiday with a fourth friend. It was the first time they had all managed to take a break together.

The headmaster at the victims’ former school,John Franklin, of independent Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham, West Sussex, said that pupils and staff were informed of the deaths at a chapel service.

Mr Franklin said: “They were fine young men; quietly spoken, hugely determined and passionate about their climbing. Their deaths come as a terrible blow to us all and the only faint consolation is that they died in the mountains doing what they loved best.”